Yesterday, we reported here at “The Wall of Separation” about a dangerous legislative effort afoot in Maryland to directly subsidize religious schools. Monday was the last day the General Assembly would be in session, and one of the bills remaining would have allocated $10 million in direct tax support to religious schools in danger of shutting down.

Amidst all of the excitement and speculation that emerged on Friday upon the announcement that U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens would be retiring at the end of this term, another important news item revealed much about where we stand with Presidential nominees in need of Senate confirmation.

Today, the Maryland legislature may vote on a bill that would provide direct funding to Catholic schools.

SB 385, which formerly proposed tax credits for tuition expenditures at religious and other private schools, was altered Saturday night by the House Ways and Means subcommittee to provide $10 million in direct grants to private schools.

Poor Jerry Falwell Jr.! The media in Lynchburg, Va., is being soooo mean to him. It breaks your heart to read about it.

You might recall that Falwell got himself in a bit of hot water the other day when it came to light that he had secretly videotaped a meeting between university representatives, the mayor and the city manager about the school’s expansion plans and how they might affect local zoning issues.

In Oklahoma, state legislators seem intent on pushing through legislation that encourages public schools to teach from the Bible.

Two bills are making their way through the House and Senate, and the bills’ proponents have made it clear they intend for this legislation to promote Christianity and undermine church-state separation.

After all, no legislation is necessary for public schools to teach about the Bible. Public schools can already offer Bible courses, so long as the class is taught from an academic perspective and teachers don’t proselytize.

Sid Kemp is upfront about the agenda of Feeding God’s Children. The ministry, affiliated with Two Rivers Church in Lenoir City, Tenn., provides food and other assistance to children in Appalachia and Guatemala, and it provides evangelism as part of the package.

Although recipients and volunteers don’t have to be “believers,” he said, religious outreach is a big part of the ministry’s work.

“We want to tell them about Jesus because we know that changes their lives permanently,” Kemp said.